Sunday, June 23, 2013

Jeff's Talk on the Book of Mormon 23 June, 2013



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Susan enjoyed meeting new people so when a friend from her ward asked her if she would be interested ongoing on a blind date with a guy named Brian, she agreed to meet him, along with some other friends, at a restaurant for dinner.

As the group conversation turned to books and literature, they discussed the latest mystery novel, they all agreed that it was a suspenseful story that was well written.

Brian was a newcomer to the group and Susan really wanted to learn as much about him as possible, so when he mentioned a new title, Susan really listened up. "

Anyone ever heard of the book titled The Trails of Mr. X?"

Everyone in the group said they had read the book, including Susan, and every in the group said they had really enjoyed it, except Susan. She said that she didn't think it was app very good story and not written well. Brian looked disappointed and was really glad when the subject of conversation changed.

Brian and Susan had fun getting to know each other that night, so much so that they started spending time together without the rest of their friends around.

They spent their time together having picnics at the park, mini-golfing, going to the movies and occasionally dinner at a restaurant.

It wasn’t long after that first group date that Susan asked Brian about his work and hobbies and Brian revealed that he had written and published a book.

A book titled “The Trails of Mr. X”.

The color ran out of her face as Susan remembered the first time that book was discussed as a group and she felt very bad about saying she didn’t think it was good.

Susan decided right then and there to re-read the book.

More time went by and the couple continued dating.

One night when Susan and Brian were at dinner, Susan announced that she had finished re-reading “The Trails of Mr. X”.

Brain asked what she thought, and Susan said that it almost seemed like a different book from the first time she read it, she really liked the story and the creative way that it was written.
She appreciated that it was thought provoking and prompted her to think about things in her own life.



What changed Susan’s opinion about the book?

What might have happened between the first time she read Brian’s book and the second time?

Susan now loved the author.



We’ve just heard my lovely wife talk about the prophet Joseph Smith. Now I’m going to talk about his legacy, The Book of Mormon.

As we know Joseph didn't write the Book of Mormon but translated it through the power and gift of God, bringing it to us so we can benefit from its teachings in these the latter days.

I just spent two weeks sleeping on my at my sister’s couch at her house in Maryland. I have a brother-in-law there that’s extremely smart. Not only is he one of the world’s foremost experts in DNA but he’s also a real scholar when it comes to the scriptures. He’s spoken at BYU education week sessions and even did some research that supported a small change in the introduction to the new edition of the Book of Mormon. When I asked him what he would identify as being the most important things about The Book of Mormon, he first directed me to a general conference talk by Elder Tadd Callister which made three really important points.

First is that the Book of Mormon is a second witness of Christ. In his talk, Elder Callister asks,

“Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from essentially the same Bible?

It is because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same, they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for the Apostle Paul declared that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of witnesses. Paul taught, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1).

There’s a visual picture that illustrates the importance of having two or more witnesses, I’ll try to describe it.

Imagine a single dot on a piece of paper, how many straight lines can you draw through it? Quite a few, all in different directions, creating a picture of something like, a starburst.

Those many different lines could be likened to interpretations of bible teachings or different churches. But now imagine two dots on the paper, how many lines can you draw that go through both?

Only one.  One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.

The Second point about the importance of the Book of Mormon is that the it testifies of true doctrine. The doctrine taught in The Book or Mormon was revealed through His prophets, translated by the Gift and Power of God, and maintained a spiritual "chain of custody" down through the ages even until now. At no time was the doctrine subject to interpretation and edit by one or more men as the bible was.

Alma 32:27 says But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than a desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

Experiments yield results, sometimes positive, sometimes not so positive but they always end up in some kind of result or as Christ called them “fruits”

Christ made the statement in Mathew “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:15–20.) In this specific example He was discussing the actions of men, but the principle also applies to teachings or doctrine. If there is a piece of doctrine in the Book of Mormon that you're not sure of,  or have questions about it, give it a try, experiment on those words and see what blessings come.

The third point I want to highlight is that The Book of Mormon proves very clearly that revelation has not ceased. There are many good Christians in the world that firmly believe that revelation and miracles ended shortly after the crucifixion of Christ.

Not only does the Book of Mormon show us evidence that God worked through His prophets in those times, but it teaches us about faith and personal revelation.

It is through that faith and personal revelation that we can also clearly see how The Lord continues to speak through His current prophet and apostles.

I believe we can all see examples of revelation from the prophet and general authorities, down through local leaders at all levels, to parents, spouses and in our own personal lives.

The Book of Mormon is not only a book of doctrine but it’s historical. When I asked my dear wife why that was important, she said some things that made me think of a quote.
I’m sure someone else said it but I remember it coming from Lt Warf on an episode of Star Trek.
He said “We learn more about ourselves by learning about our fathers”
We can learn from examples from the past and there are some real characters in The Book of Mormon that we can definitely learn from, some of their behaviors we want to exemplify in our out lives and other behaviors we want to stay away from. But learning about them prompts us to reflect on how we live and act, as well as the blessings that are in store.
Before the more familiar part of he promise at the end of The Book of Mormon, Moroni says, "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
I know this is out of order but give you an idea of my prospective and really let you know my testimony of the church and of the importance of Book of Mormon, I need to tell you a little more about myself. After my mission to California many years ago, I started a career in Broadcasting. I took a few classes, got an FCC license and over the next 20 years went from radio announcing to directing and doing other behind the scenes stuff for TV, and then on to working at a state of the art satellite facility broadcasting to millions of people all over. In my broadcasting positions, I was always looking for better ways to do things. So when I got a chance about 10 years ago, I changed career paths and now focus on looking at organizations, how they do things and how to make them better. In my case right now I work for the Coast Guard and that focus is working with Coast Guard units and offices. We have moved to this area looking forward to using some of my training skills in a new position with the Coast Guard but for right now my job title is Organizational Performance Consultant.
Because I look at organizations and how they are run, I have a unique perspective on the church. The organization of the church is like no other. The Book of Mormon is one of the things that really stands out. The author or originator of The Book of Mormon is really the Lord Jesus Christ. As we saw with Susan, Brian and the story I told at the beginning of my talk, our appreciation of the Book of Mormon is highly influenced by our relationship with Him. As our love for Him grows, so will our love for the Book of Mormon.